Post Description

EPISODE FOUR: 1920/1933
Going Home

Before the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916, the parks had existed as a haphazard collection of scenic places ? occasionally guarded by the Army, often ignored by Congress, and in many ways controlled by the railroads that had funded much of the development in the parks. Stephen Mather, the first director of the National Park Service, was determined to change all that. He wanted more national parks within reach of more people, and he wanted them promoted as one cohesive system.

In order to increase the number of visitors, Mather and his young assistant, Horace Albright, would ally themselves with the machine that had already begun transforming American life: the automobile. Their efforts would bring Americans to the parks as never before. But for some, allowing cars into the parks was the equivalent of allowing the serpent into Eden. While it was an easy decision for Mather, many park supporters worried that he had made a pact with the devil.

Speeltijd Disc4: 01:54:40